Ethnicity Tags for China Cooks Recipes

China officially recognizes fifty-six ethnic groups as comprising its population. The history and politics of these ethnic designations are complex and ethnic identities can be fluid, but this list is a good starting point for understanding the astonishing cultural diversity of this multi-ethnic and multilingual state. Visitors to China are often struck by how many different languages are spoken, other than standard Mandarin. Some, like Cantonese, are regional Chinese dialects sharing linguistic features with Mandarin, while others, like Tibetan or Russian, are languages of peoples who are culturally distinct from the Han majority. China has always been a cultural melting pot, the lines between Han majority and ethnic minority blurred by a long history of interaction and intermarriage, but pockets of cultural diversity remain an important feature of Chinese society today. This diversity is reflected as much in food practice as in language, and thus a celebration of Chinese food would not be complete without some exploration of its ethnic diversity. Below is a clickable list of groups, ordered more or less by population size, but appended at the end with some unofficial group tags:

Han 汉族
Zhuang 壮族
Hui 回族
Manchu 满族
Uyghur 维吾尔族
Miao 苗族
Yi 彝族
Tujia 土家族
Tibetan 藏族
Mongol 蒙古族
Dong 侗族
Bouyei 布依族
Yao 瑶族
Bai 白族
Korean 朝鲜族
Hani 哈尼族
Li 黎族
Kazakh 哈萨克族
Dai 傣族
She 畲族
Lisu 傈僳族
Dongxiang 东乡族
Gelao 仡佬族
Lahu 拉祜族
Wa 佤族
Sui 水族
Nakhi 纳西族
Qiang 羌族
Tu 土族
Mulao 仫佬族
Xibe 锡伯族
Kyrgyz 柯尔克孜族
Jingpo 景颇族
Daur 达斡尔族
Salar 撒拉族
Blang 布朗族
Maonan 毛南族
Tajik 塔吉克族
Pumi 普米族
Achang 阿昌族
Nu 怒族
Evenki 鄂温克族
Gin 京族
Jino 基诺族
De’ang 德昂族
Bonan 保安族
Russian 俄罗斯族
Yugur 裕固族
Uzbek 乌兹别克族
Monba 门巴族
Oroqen 鄂伦春族
Derung 独龙族
Hezhen 赫哲族
Gaoshan 高山族
Lhoba 珞巴族
Tatars 塔塔尔族
Hakka 客家
Cantonese 粤
Overseas Chinese 华侨